Keeping perspective

One of the most difficult things to do as a fan is to not over react. Knowing that Martin O'Neills Sunderland squad has beaten sides like Manchester City, Arsenal, and Liverpool you might think to yourself "he has made us in to a side that can challenge for Europe". But then if you watched the match against West Brom or Blackburn you would think we are a side destined for relegation. I'm trying to convince myself not to over react to either thought. Let's look at some positives.

• We play much more organized, and we are getting the most out of players who looked dead to rights under Steve Bruce. 
• Our form at home has dramatically improved. The Stadium of Light has become a difficult place to take points (now if only our grounds crew could get the pitch looking better).
• James McClean has emerged as a real talent and solidified the left side midfield position.
• Jack Colback has continued to develop and looks like he'll be a great player for Sunderland for years to come. Lee Cattermole also seems to have regained his good form but unfortunately hasn't improved all of his decision making (see the sending off after Newcastle). 

Now some of the frustrations...

• We still look like a side who struggles to create lots of goal scoring chances. 
• Stephane Sessegnon is a great talent, but without him in the lineup we look much more pedestrian up front.
• After a spell of good results we have struggled to keep our good form against teams we should beat (West Brom and Blackburn).
• I'm not sure we are deep enough to challenge each match in both the league matches and the cup matches. When we go to our bench our organization and form look much poorer. 

So what I take from all of this is that we are improving, and doing it much quicker than we could have originally expected. Now as fans we need to slow down our expectations and let Martin O'Neill continue to build up the squad as we finish the season. We are still alive in the FA Cup (only 6 teams can say that) and a top half finish is certainly within reach in the league. It's ok to be disappointed in the loss today but let's dust it off, get behind the lads, and come out full of enthusiasm for QPR on Saturday.

Ha'way the Lads!